betta tank q?

[barbnubee]

I currently have 2 female betta that are each in bowls. I am planning on adding them to my 10 gallon tank soon. I've heard that sometimes females cam be just as aggressive as males. These two have never been together before so I don't know if they will like each other or not. Do you think they will get along? If I add another female to make it three will that make things better? (I really don't have room for anymore than 4 even though some people think that is not overstocked at all) Less tension; more peace.

[Drumachine09]

I dont have any experiance with bettas, but i have heard of several females getting along together. I would try it and monitor them for a while to see how they interact.

Welcome to the A.C.!

[Severus]

Females are a lot less aggresive than males (in my experience) i have seen a few small scuffles between two females but nothing serious. I think they will be fine, but make sure you watch them and if they fight a little let it go. They may just have to establish a pecking order but if things get too serious pull one of them. Good Luck!

[cocoa_pleco]

ive had 2 males, but 1 way 2 see is put their bowls next 2 eachother and watch if they flare, if they dont, they MAY be compatible

[Betta_noob]

4 is the bare minimum from experience and a lot of reading.
Sometimes 3 works but really from personal opinion the agression isn't spread out enough.
For a female betta tank you need plenty of hiding spaces, caves, plants whatever, they need to have loooots of hiding spaces.
You also need to make sure you keep a close eye on them, some females just aren't suited for sorority life and as such you should be prepared to yank a girl out if it looks like she's going to kill another girl.
Some nipping and fighting is to be expected but you'll know if the girls life is in danger.

[Rue]

I'm doing an experiment with the bettas...

3 weeks ago I introduced 4 bettas to my community tank...1 female died (I tried to treat her, but it didn't work) so she was replaced.

Each female has staked out an area of the tank...but they will mix together during feeding time. The male patrols the top of the tank.

I've seen no sign of aggression between the bettas, or between the bettas and the other fish.

The others include:

5 Cory cats
5 Long -finned rosy tetras
5 Zebra danios
1 lonely neon tetra
3 mollies (large female, 2 of her offspring, not fully grown)
3 platies (2 females, 1 male)

The tank seems overstocked, number-wise....but I find I need this number to prevent a 'depressed' tank...if anyone knows what I mean...

Water quality is very good.

[zenryoku]

My bf has three betta tanks. 2 1-gallon tanks hold three females and and male each. The other holds a single male who was too aggressive for the others. I have a 2.5-gallon with 1 male and 3 females. I just got the females today. So far so good. I guess it is just on a fish by fish basis. Typically you need at least a 3-1 female to male ratio.

[Betta_noob]

Honestly you shouldn't have ANY M-F ratio because bettas of the opposite sex are not supposed to be kept together.
Doing so is at the risk of the lives of your pets.
Not to mention the amount of space you are insanely over stocked, because I understood you you have multiple bettas in 1 gallon, this is not acceptable per the "1 gallon per inch of adult fish" rule.

[minabird]

I tried to house 3 female bettas in a 10 gal with lost of plants and 2 pieces of bogwood to break up the tank into thirds, thinking that each would claim a territory centered around a plant I positioned in between the bogwood. The large red female became the immediate boss because of her size and also reds are more dominant than the other colors. The 2 smaller pink females ganged up on the her and she ended up at the bottom of the pecking order. After 2-3 days of "relative" peace with only chasing, cirlcing, and gill flaring, the 2 pinks went after each other taking bites out of each other's fins and spitting it out and going back in for more. I finally had to pull the 2 pink females out and put them in a 10 gal with a divider. They still charge and flare at each other whenever they spot one another.

[Rue]

...an interesting experiment would be to see how many gallons each female needs as a territory...

...could be that 10g is just too small for 3 females...maybe they need 10g each?

[sergo]

i'll share my experiences with this. i had 4 bettas (2m/2f) in my 55 gal for a while. at first everything was ok but after a couple of weeks the males began to fight and i had to physically separate them. my guess is that the younger one finally got old enough to stick up for himself. so i pulled one of them out and put it back in it's bowl and left the 2 females in. well the one in the tank ended up dieing and after a couple of more weeks the females started to fight just as hard as the males and i had to remove them also. in the end i lost just one male i'm sure due to stress but i did put one female back in the tank since she's fairly big and quick. i have to advise against putting any bettas together period unless your breeding. they may be fine right now but you will wake up one morning and find them furiously fighting and then it may be too late. i hate that i lost my best looking betta due to my ignorance and stubbornness to separate them after everyone said to. good luck but don't be surprised when they all of a sudden start going for the throat.

[minabird]

...an interesting experiment would be to see how many gallons each female needs as a territory...

...could be that 10g is just too small for 3 females...maybe they need 10g each?

I was wondering about the size of territory they would claim. I read on a few other sites, some dedicated just to bettas and others operated by betta breeders, and a couple sites suggested 2-3 gals per female betta and had luck with 3-4 in as little as a 10 gal. I initially thought that might be too small but since a read that on more than 1 site I experimented to see for myself. It didn't work out for my 3 and unfortunately, I lost the prettiest of my females, the big red, due to either bloat or dropsy about 1-2 weeks after I removed the 2 other females.

Someone posted in this forum that they had luck with 3 females and a male in a 29(?, I think) community tank.

[Rue]

That was likely me! It's been 6 weeks...and so far, no problems...

They are now eating as a little group...and after meals they all hang out in their own part of the tank again...

[sergo]

i never had any problems out my 4 bettas until i started to add more fish. i'd have to agree that if they have enough space they could be fine for a while. but it only takes 1 that wants more space to create a problem. i think a 29 may be too small for them. i don't think my 55 was either. who really knows, all fish are different.